The ink of the historic agreement, which paves the way for a transfer of power to civilians in Sudan, had barely dried up as jubilation took over the streets of Khartoum on Saturday (August 17th).

As soon as it was signed, the constitutional declaration, defining the next 39 months of transition, was greeted by loud applause in the Sudanese capital.

Concluded through mediation from Ethiopia and the African Union, this agreement was greeted with relief from both sides. The demonstrators celebrate the victory of their "revolution", while the generals, they claim the merit of avoiding a civil war.

The transitional agreement, signed in early August and signed on Saturday, ended nearly eight months of an unprecedented protest that led to the fall of President Omar al-Bashir on April 11, before turning against the president. Transitional Military Council having taken over.

"I'm starting to breathe"

At the central market in Khartoum, merchants and customers are hoping that a civilian government will help them feed their families.

"We have been under the control of the military for 30 years, but today we leave all that behind," says Ali Youssef, a 19-year-old student who works on the market and hopes that vegetable prices will fall.

Most are waiting to see the changes the transition will bring to their daily lives. Others are already benefiting from an immaterial but significant change: freedom of expression.

"I'm 72 years old and for 30 years under Bashir, I could not be happy about anything today, thank God I'm starting to breathe," says Ali Issa Abdel Momen, kneeling in front of his modest selection of vegetables .

Many Sudanese and observers, however, continue to question the ability of transitional institutions to limit the power of the military elite.

If they are in the minority in the Sovereign Council, it will be first led by a general for 21 months. And the generals will choose the Ministers of the Interior and Defense.

Throughout the day, a crowd of men and women, young and old, converged on the conference room where the agreement was signed, making with their fingers the "V" of victory, and shouting in chorus: " Madaniya, Madaniya ", which can be translated as" civil power ".

"This is the biggest celebration I have ever seen in my country, we have a new Sudan," says Saba Mohammed, a 37-year-old woman who waves a small plastic flag.

The 39-month transition period aims to secure more rights and freedoms and is expected to culminate with elections in 2022.

"We won"

Coming from Atbara (center of the country), where the first rallies against the government's decision to triple the price of bread took place in December, Sudanese arrived in a festive atmosphere in Khartoum in the early afternoon.

"Civil power," they chanted before their departure according to videos on social networks, promising to avenge the 250 or so people who died in the suppression of demonstrations, according to doctors.

For some, indeed, this outcome can not erase the sadness of having lost a loved one in the repression of the movement.

In the crowd, Ali, 19, is in tears. On June 3, he lost a brother in the bloody dispersion of the iconic sit-in of the protest.

"My brother was shot dead on June 3," he said, referring to the dispersal of the sit-in in front of army headquarters, whose outcry had precipitated a resumption of negotiations between the two camps.

According to doctors close to the protest movement, 127 people were killed that day. Eleven are still missing.

"I wish he could see that, we won, the revolution is not dead," says Ali. "My brother is a hero."

Reopening of "the door to Sudan's international relations"

One of the first consequences of the agreement should be the lifting of the suspension of Sudan from the AU, decided in June.

African dignitaries attended the ceremony, including Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, a mediator, and AU Committee Chair Moussa Faki. The latter described the signing of the agreement as "a historic achievement (...) of the national will".

Sudanese opposition leader Sadek al-Mahdi told him about a "transition day to a civilian power that will lead to peace and democratic change through free elections", calling for the exclusion of no one .

General Mohammed Ali Ibrahim, a member of the Military Council, said Friday that the signing would reopen "the door to Sudan's international relations".

Security forces had been deployed in the city for what promised to be the biggest international event held in Sudan for years, marginalized under the Bashir regime.

The day of the signing was to be that of the opening of the trial of ex-President Bashir, charged with corruption, but it was postponed indefinitely.

On Friday, Amnesty International warned of the possibility for Omar al-Bashir to escape a trial before the International Criminal Court, which issued two arrest warrants, including for "genocide" in Darfur.

With AFP